THE #1 Louisiana bar outside New Orleans.

Each year, the New Orleans newspaper Gambit rates the top 50 bars in and around the city.  The rankings, which came out last week, put the Rivershack Tavern at 36.  But if you look at the bars in front of us, every single one of them is within New Orleans city limits, while the Rivershack Tavern offers cheap drinks, live music, and cheap food on the river in Harahan.  That makes us number one for those with the gumption to check out what New Orleans has to offer in entertainment and cuisine outside of the tourist districts

Drinking in the French Quarter is groovy–we do it too, whenever we win the lottery–but one of the things that gives New Orleans such a unique local flavor is the out of the way places that don’t make it in the guidebooks. Gambit made reference to our roadhouse having “some local flavor” and we sure agree.  There’s a funkiness here, from the uniquely spelled menu (“boigers” and “shack-a-tizers”) to the off-the-wall décor.

There are a lot of places to go in New Orleans to listen to live music and knock back some brews, but none of them offer the same sort of local feel as the Rivershack Tavern.  We’ve got alligator sausage, cheap, cold beer and the best local blues, jazz, funk and rock music that you’ll find in Harahan or anywhere outside of the French Quarter.

Yeah, Gambit put us at 36, but stop by our digs on the river, swill down a few cold beers and judge for yourself.  We think you’ll agree that when it comes to bars outside of the French Quarter, we’re number one.

Authentic New Orleans Fun: Abita, Beans and Blues

For some authentic New Orleans summer fun, you may just have to go just over the parish line.

If you came to town in the middle of summer, you might be wondering what there is to do around here. Mardi Gras and Jazzfest came and went, it’s months until Voodoo, and you’re tired of the Bourbon Street scene. Why not go off the beaten path? You could go down Airline Drive and take in a Zephyrs game – one of the cheapest ways to watch a pro sports team around. You could go to the New Orleans Museum of Art – admission is free on Wednesday afternoons, all summer long. And in the evening, you could see some good local music.

Why not come down to the Rivershack Tavern in Harahan? Every Monday night, we have Abita, Blues, and Beans with Amanda Walker and friends. Where Y’At Magazine called Amanda “a young artist from a small Missouri town with her eyes open wide to a world of exploration,” and her “N’Awlins piano pop” will get you going. Not to mention the fact that our red beans are so good, you’ll think you went by your mama’s house. Sit on one of our famous “Bar Legs” barstools, and top it all off by cooling off with our $2.00 Abita drafts.

If you come down to the Rivershack Tavern, you’ll be sure to go home with a full stomach, stories to tell, and a few new friends.

Last night, like every alternating Tuesday night, is Tacky Ashtray night here at the Rivershack.  This does not mean we want you to make our ashtrays sticky.  This does not mean we put on a show of our tackiest ashtrays, though that may be the case.  This means you bring us your tackiest ashtrays and you get a drink in trade.

Get your pre-game on, ladies and gentlemen: Bring us your old, your tired, your soiled, your technicolor, your with-feet, your in-the-shape-of-a-person, your bobble-headed, your crocodiles, your crawdads… if it’s a tacky ashtray, it’s worth a drink.  Yes, River Road in Harahan is the home of the tacky ashtray and we are calling our children to dinner.  Or after-dinner.

While you’re here ask us to point out our fine collection.  If you’ve already had a few do your best not to let your beer escape your person via your nose.  For some reason the site of a neon-pink sombrero ashtray poised delicately above barstools fashioned to look like a businessman’s legs results in violent fits of explosive laughter.

Almost in New Orleans.  Just outside the hustle and bustle, nice and cozy nestled inside true southern roadhouse hospitality, you can actually find good, inexpensive drinks within view of the levee.  On any night the Rivershack you get a good price on drinks.  Add that to the carefree, fun attitude of the patrons and staff and you have enough of a reason to come by for a drink or two or ten.  But Wednesdays?  Well, Wednesdays are special.

Wednesdays are Pint Night.

Now we don’t want you to go crazy, but you get two bucks off pints down here on Wednesdays.  Hey, put that empty gallon jug down, it’s only on pints.  Come out to Harahan, escape (or avoid) the downtown crowds and have a good time without losing an arm or a leg.  Unless you get too friendly with a gator.  In which case, alcohol is a great anesthetic.

No, we do not serve Vodka by the pint.

If you come down River Road to the Rivershack tomorrow for the seafood and steak specials – which are well worth it – you might leave hungry.  You might just end up tapping your foot and shaking your rear too much to be bothered ordering.

Truman Holland and The Back Porch Review sound just like the amalgamation of “blues, jazz, gospel, bluegrass, country and funk,” that their website professes them to be.  And are the perfect accompaniment for a night by the levee. Expect to be humming tunes on the ride home.

If you don’t like to dance on an empty stomach, you’re in luck.  It’s steak and seafood night, as noted above, with a nice special on a great plate of chow.  Just try to make sure your fish doesn’t start singing along – that’s a sign you should have started eating before you started drinking.